


Respect for Choice

by Merfilly



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies)
Genre: Gen, Noncanonical Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-24
Updated: 2011-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-27 23:22:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/301180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mikaela has her routine for battle aid down pat. Then a mech challenges her skill.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Respect for Choice

**Author's Note:**

> This fic borrows against Femme4Jack's concepts of an armor system for Mikaela.
> 
> It also deals with the concept of an individuals right to dignified death.

The instant she saw the mech falling, she was in motion, protected by Wheeljack's armor, and small enough to be mostly ignored when Ironhide was turning to blast at the Decepticon killer. Mikaela had this down to a science; she settled her weight on the mech at some point where it would not do more damage, and started clamping, cauterizing, and otherwise sealing anything leaking fluids. The battle mop-up would continue around her, and eventually other mechs would deliver her and her patient to the safety of transport.

This mech was losing fluids faster than she could clamp and seal. She refused to let herself think about it, fingers racing to find all the points adding hydraulics and energon to the pool growing around them.She thought she'd found the most severe one when Jolt and Sideswipe carefully transferred them into a waiting cargo truck, and worked rapidly to get it capped. Sensors built into her armor kept her aware of failing power levels, monitoring the spark activity that she could barely feel through the suit's own fields.

She needed that display, letting it goad her on as she manipulated the lines she had capped, trying to make new connections between them to keep vital systems from powering down. The readings dipped lower, and with a frustrated sound in her throat, she resorted to her last chance means, data plugs from the suit wiring into the mech directly. She steeled herself against the onslaught of pain and damage readings, then started manipulating the protocols to induce stasis.

The mech, barely aware of anything beyond his ravaged frame's pain, blocked her.

"No, no, no…."

Mikaela rerouted her attempt, relying on pathways Jazz had taught her instead, but without taking away the choice completely.

And found herself blocked once again.

Tears clouded her eyes, but she had to admit defeat. The jacks remained, long enough for her to bolster pain editors and biometric feedback routines. It was all she could do, having had this drilled into her time and again by even Ratchet, who defied death to claim any of their numbers.

If a mech chose to die, it was their right.

She pulled back her data cords, and then let the armor fold back away into the subspace connections, knowing others were possibly injured, yet incapable of moving from this mech's side. It might have been a last effort of will or a random flux of energy, but either way, his hand landed on her foot, connecting them. She rested her hand on his face, and waited with him as the energy leeched away from his spark and optics, leaving him to turn gray with the loss of his chromatic nanites.

Optimus found her like that, tears streaming down her face, and kept vigil until she was strong enough to leave her first loss.


End file.
